


Two Faced

by Tiredfrogs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Child Neglect, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, MJ is good friend, Mutants, Protective Avengers, Protective Peter Parker, Reader-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Steve Rogers and James “Bucky” Barnes in a relationship, Takes place a little bit after Spider-Man homecoming, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Vision and Wanda act as parental figures, Y/n has superpowers, loki acts as mentor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:02:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29737056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiredfrogs/pseuds/Tiredfrogs
Summary: You’re a mutant shape shifter who’s living out their life at high school. You’ve never used your powers for anything that significant until you meet a certain God of Mayhem and Mistchief. At the same time you meet a kind man who teaches you the responsibility of holding powers. All while you’re navigating your new found crush on Peter Parker and your home life.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Reader, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 22
Kudos: 66





	1. Young and gifted

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic so it’s def a work in progress. I’ll try and update it every weekend or something.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You miss home, even though home probably definetly doesn’t miss you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter of hopefully many. I’m hoping to do more, so I’d love feedback on where you guys would like this to go!

You stuffed your backpack with the essentials. Changes of clothes, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, extra cash, fake ID, anything you deemed useful on your trip. Your wardrobe was sprawled out on your bed as you quickly folded and fit the outfits into your backpack.

“Again?” Alicia asked not bothering to look up from her bed where she sat painting her nails. Her face scrunched in concentration as she used her non dominant had to paint the other hands nails.

“Yep. You bet.” You responded as you sorted through your underwear drawer. The exasperation in Alicias voice didn’t slow you down.

“Pffttt isn’t this like the third time in four months?” Sofia laughed at you. She put down her book on the windowsill where she sat and floated over to where you were packing.

She hovered next to you, feet up in the air and arms behind her head like she was in a hammock.

“Move your nasty feet away from my face” you cringed a bit and ever so slightly and pushed her back causing her to float backwards in the other direction.

“And yeah this is my fourth time. This is the fourth and final time.” You were confident in the plan. You’ve made mistakes in the past but this time. This time you were sure it was full proof.

This would be your fourth and final attempt in six months to get back home.

You had finished packing all you could into your backpack and set it to lean against your bed on the ground.

“Why would you wanna leave this place anyway?” Sofia asked still floating around the room  
“Yeah” chimed in Alicia “it’s great here. The food is good, the teachers are nice, and you get to room with us.”

You raised an eyebrow at the last reason,“Lucky me, rooming with princess floaty and mega mind.” You laughed a little at your own sarcastic comment.

“Heyyyy! I told you to stop calling my mega mind! I’m telekinetic, not big headed!” She hissed at you which you promptly ignored.

“Aaand,” Sofia interjected “there are people here like you. Why would you want to be with the normies out in the real world? You know what they’re like.” Sofia remarked skeptically. The question came out cold and harsh. Although you knew she didn’t mean it like that. You understood where your roommate were coming from when they spoke of humans harshly. It was all coming from a place of unfairness. Humans had given your roommates a hard time when they were kids. Unlike you they couldn’t control their powers as well and easily became the targets of bullying or harassment.

“Normies? I am normal. **We** are normal.” You insisted

“No we aren’t. “ Alicia asserted. Finally looked up shaking her right hand to dry the nail polish. “To them we aren’t.”

“Yeah.” Sofia added. “We’re mutants. Don’t forget that.”

“You’re right...... You two aren’t normal. I am. I’m the only one here who has the brain capacity to escape this place.” You joked.

They rolled their eyes at you and went back to doing their separate activities.

What Sofia and Alicia had said sank in. It pained your heart a little, remembering the word mutant being used almost like an insult. The way the media portrayed you and what others thought when they realized you had powers.

The word mutant wasn’t a pretty one either. It rang in your head and it felt like a headache. The word itself was synonymous with ‘freak’ ‘deviant’ ‘oddity’ ‘monstrosity’ and ‘monster’.

You shake those self pitying thoughts from your head, “mutant? You mean gifted youngsters?” You laughed

They giggled too, it was something professor X liked to tell us to ease our conscious about being different. That we were special. We were gifted. It was comforting upon first arrival to the school but you can only believe those words for so long when the world tells you different.

You activated your powers as your frame began to grow and your hair shrank into your head till it was all gone. Your face had wrinkled and you were wearing a grey suit. You were professor x himself.

You voice was much lower and throaty, “when I was a boy I learned I had the power to control people’s minds...” you started his infamous speech. The two girls began giggling. Alicias once sour expressions turned into a small smirk she couldn’t hide.

“Know all you need is the metal wheel chair and the mind control helmet” Alicia jested.

You liked when Alicia cracked jokes.  
Alicia was a bit of a tough nut. Always a little mean and liked to ‘tell it how it is’. But after almost a year of rooming with her you’ve learned to grow accustomed to her sassy remarks and snide comments.

You watched Alicia. Sometimes you studied peoples faces, not knowingly just because it was something you had to do for your ability. And without realizing it you had morphed into her.

“Hey what’d you do that for?” Alicia laughed a little cringing at seeing a double of herself. You had all her traits exactly. The mid length brown hair, the hazel eyes, the tanned brown skin, her hooked nose and her pointed face.

“Oh ahaha, I didn’t even realize I was doing that.” You laughed.

You and Sofia had a good time imitating Alicia while you looked at her.

This caused Alicia to throw flying objects at you from across the room, hitting both you and Sofia on the head.

“I see your aim has got better.” You laughed rubbing the spot on your head where she hit you.

“No, your heads are just big, and easy to hit.”

You were gonna miss this. In acouple hours your final attempt at getting back home would be complete. You had it all planned out. You were sure you weren’t gonna fail. And it was kinda bitter sweet. This place was your home.... but not home home. It wasn’t where you needed to be.

“Soooo, you explained to us the plan already but are you sure it’s gonna work?” Sofia asked

“Wait I didn’t even hear it, what’re you gonna do again? Steal professor X’s helmet?” Alicia chortled, not believing you could do it this time.

You rolled your eyes in response. “No of course not.” You paused a little to think. “A good magician never reveals their secrets. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

The sun had just set over over the line of trees, the room no longer illuminated with orange and gold. It would be dinner time in about thirty minutes.

“I will tell you that I’m setting the plan into motion after dinner tonight when everyone’s asleep.” You smiled deviously. Which you couldn’t hold for long when you began laughing.

Tonight’s the night you go home.  
  


After dinner you spent time in the common room with all the other kids. Almost trying to soak up their presence. Because Sofia was right in one thing. The people here were just like you. They understood you. But it wasn’t home. It wasn’t Queens. It wasn’t your apartment in east flushing. You missed your mom, and your friends. Charles Xavier School for the young and gifted was great but it wasn’t what you needed. You needed to be your own person. And living in a sea of other super powered kids just couldn’t give you that.

You weren’t like the other kids. You didn’t wanna become and X- man. You had no interest in saving the world or fighting the forces of evil. Not that you were a bad person but the morality of what’s right and wrong just never appealed to you. And the school blew up like every couple of years and you didn’t wanna be there for the next time it did.

So after games in the common room and suspiciously long goodnight hugs you went to your dorm with Sofia and Alicia where you hopped into bed in your escape clothes. You’d wait till everyone was a sleep then book it out of there.


	2. Home Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you run like hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entire chapter deleted while I was writing it. But that’s okay because the second version is better. And now I’ve learned my lesson of typing it in docs beforehand.

You turned over in your bed and looked at the watch you had on. Turning over the leather straps squinting at the hands of the clock, waiting for exactly 2 Am. The old watch had a crack over the top of the glass but you could still read it. 

You got out of bed and slung your bag over your shoulder. Excitement filled your chest and you were as awake as ever, despite it being so early in the morning.

You took one last glance at the room before leaving. It was bitter sweet. Just like Sofia had said. This was a place where there were others who knew what it was like to have powers. But that’s not what you needed. Here you were just another freak of nature. Another face in the crowd. Nothing special. You could be special at home. You needed to be home. You needed to be in Queens with your mom and your friends.

_Maybe I’ll come back one day. Maybe._

And with that you started off down the halls of the west side of the mansion. You had mapped out where the teachers slept, and who got up regularly at night. This time you had a plan. Unlike the last four attempts you wouldn’t be a.) falling out of windows, b.) tripping security alarms c.)putting laxatives or sleeping powder in your teachers foods or d.) escaping in broad daylight.

This time you really planned ahead. You sacrificed almost a month of deserts to James. The tech wiz of the school. You got him to disable the security cameras, alarms, and lights for as long as he could tonight. Which was only about 15 minutes.

So you had to move fast.

You had decided that escaping through the kitchen back entrance was smarts because if you were caught you could lie about getting snacks. And they left that door unlocked for a new shipment of food they were getting early this morning.

You were rounding the corner when all the sudden you saw Kitty Pryde come in from the front door. She was dressed in her traditional mission outfit. She was standing in the main hall. Standing between you and the kitchen. Standing between you and home. There was no getting around her. You had to use your powers.

  
  


You took the first form you could think of. Someone she wouldn’t interrogate. Logan. You grew taller and your shoulders growing wider. You had stubble and brown hair just like Logan. An exact and perfect copy.

You strolled into the main hall and gave her a small wave and head nod. _That was Logan- e, right?_

She smiled back tilting her head slightly. “Hey, what’re you doing up? It’s so early”. You paused in your tracks, _damn, so close._ You, Logan, turned on your heels to face her.

Your voice matched Logan’s exactly, thick and rough. “Just grabbing something to eat. Couldn’t sleep.” You tried to slow your response and actions. There was no reason to be nervous and no reason to appear nervous.

“Oh okay.” She smiled.

You thought you were in the clear when all the sudden more footsteps and hushed voices entered through the double doors. Kitty all the sudden looked smug as your attention was drawn to the three other people who walked in. 

Cyclops, storm and…., _shit._ Logan himself.

The three of them were absorbed in their own conversation and only noticed you till they were standing next to kitty near the staircase to the left of the door.

“Wow, what the….” Cyclops blurted out tilting his head in confusion when he saw you standing before them.

“Didn't know you had an identical twin Logan.” Kitty laughed. “Yeah me either” Logan, the owner of the form you were holding, said gruffly,

They knew it was you.

“Hahaha, surprise” you raised your hands defensively. There was a long pause of silence and with that you didn't waste time booking it out the front door. 

_Looks like plan a is scrapped._ You mused while sprinting into the front yard.

It didn’t occur to you in that moment that you had to out run three x men. All you knew was the pounding in your head and chest that kept your legs moving as quickly as they could. 

You hightailed it into the forest hearing their voices disappear behind you. 

If you were tired you couldn’t feel it. Just the adrenaline rush that kept you leaping over logs and dodging trees. 

What you hadn’t accounted for was that running in a forest at night with no light was incredibly difficult. Trees seemed to move at night. One moment they were there and the next you were running face first into one.

You weren’t sure if it was the excitement or the lack of sleep but everything felt like a sensory overload. The sound of the leaves beneath your feet, every rustle of a branch, the wind in the trees. It kept you on your toes. Sprinting turned to running turned to jogging.

This was the furthest you had gotten in all your escape attempts. A sense of pride and accomplishment flooded you. And just when you had begun to celebrate a ringing started in your ears. It was painful almost. You slowed your jog to hold your ears hoping it would dampen the sound.

When all the sudden a voice reached your ears through the ringing. “Y/n”. It was a man. “Y/n” he said again.

The voice was in your head. It felt like a migraine. “Y/n, this is professor X. I know you ran away. Kitty told me.” A pang of fear shot through your chest. _Shit, gotta get going._

“Don’t worry, I’m not sending anyone after you. And this isn’t a trap.” You were a bit skeptical but waited to move so you could hear what he had to say. “ I just wanted to warn you. I know you want to go home. But dangerous things await you there. So be careful. And remember this, your powers do not make you you. You do.” And with that the migraine ended and the ringing stopped. He was no longer in your head.

_What the hell was that you cryptic message._ You pondered his vague warning for 30 minutes all the way to the bus stop. The bus went all the way to Queens, it was about a 50 minute ride. Long enough to sleep on.

You chose a seat near the middle on the left hand side. Leaning against the window the cold of glass cooled down your forehead. All that running made you really sweaty. And really tired. Your last thoughts before drifting to sleep was of home. Of your mom and dad. 


	3. Home sweet home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally make it home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter it’s not very clear who you meet but I’ll just tell you know that it’s vision lol. I couldn’t be very descriptive about his human form. Also I promise Peter is in the next chapter. Yall when I said slow burn I meant it. Anyway thanks for reading

The charter bus dropped you off about six blocks from your apartment. It was four in the morning. It was good to be back. For some reason the smell of the city was already comforting. Not necessarily the smell of air pollution. Just the familiar neighborhood. The way birds began chirping and the city waking up.

You were tired,really tired; despite having slept the entire way on the bus. But you knew going home wasn’t an option till later. Your mom either wouldn’t be home or wouldn’t let you up. So you had to wait it out in a 24/7 diner or cafe. You settled on a diner. It was practically empty. About two stragglers either just getting up or just getting home. 

You took a seat at the counter and ordered a coffee with the remaining money you had. The waiter who placed it in front of you looked at you suspiciously. You didn’t blame him. You were a young girl who looked like she just came from a fist fight. With dirt on your face and scratches all over. You were a mess.

You dumped spoonfuls of sugar into the coffee and even then it was suffocatingly bitter. You didn’t understand how or why your dad was able to drink straight black coffee every morning. 

You leaned into your chair inhaling the scent of the coffee with a deep breath. While the taste was bitter the smell was comforting. It smelled like early morning sundays with your mom and dad when you were a kid. Your dad, whom you only have a shred of a memory of, reading the newspaper and your mom sitting next to him sewing. The apartment was warm and filled with sunlight. That’s how you’d like to remember it but you knew damn well it's not the same anymore.

You fidgeted with the watch on your wrist. It was your dads. He left it to you. 

You pulled out your sketchbook and pencil, to fill the time. It was a captain America pencil gifted to you by one of the younger kids at Charles Xavier school. He collected hero merch and when he had doubles he always gave them to you. So you had about three hulk pencils, two Spider-Man ones and one iron man eraser. 

You spent another hour or two drawing, people watching and sipping on your coffee. Patience wearing thin, you collected your stuff and left the diner. On your way out you noted the ‘help wanted’ sign in the window. _Hm, I’ll be needing a job since I’m back…._

You walked the six blocks to your apartment. Nothing about the neighborhoods had really changed. Maybe besides a new restaurant here and there or construction but things pretty much had stayed the same and you were glad it did.

You pressed the doorbell waiting to get buzzed up. It took multiple rings on several different buttons for the door to be unlocked. 

You rode the elevator to the fourth floor and knocked on the apartment door. 33b. It took several knocks for the door to swing open violently. You held your breath in anticipation.

Your mom had opened the door. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing her pajamas. “Hey mom” you grinned at her.

She said nothing. Her face remained unchanged, and unmoving. “Come in”

She moved to the right and motioned for you to come in. You put your bag on the hook and took your shoes off, and right then you looked up at her face to see the look of distain. She scowled down at you. The look she had given you before you were sent off to Charles Xavier school for the young and gifted. The look she gave you when you asked for anything, or annoyed her.

So you ignored it. Because you loved your mom.

“Hey mom, it’s really great to be back…. I missed you a lot.” You chuckled a little to lighten the atmosphere of the conversation.

There was another long silence till your mom responded, “right. So why are you back home?”

There was no ‘good to see you too’ from her. Only a look of contempt. It hurt but didn’t surprise you.

“Because I wanted to be. I missed you.” You pushed the anger away. Keeping your voice level.

“Well I’m sending you back. You can stay here for the night but after that you’re taking the next bus ou of here.” Your mom walked away from you and to towards the kitchen.

“Wait no mom!” You pleaded following her to the kitchen, “I promise I’ll be good! I won’t cause trouble like last time! No more skipping school no more pranks! No more stealing! I promise! I’ll even get my grades up!”

“Quit yelling” your mom snapped at you. She sighed, rubbing her eyes. It was like you being here had aged her five years. You were a burden.

“Fine. You can go back to school and stay here with me. But I’m busy so don’t get in my way.” She stalked off to her bedroom leaving you standing in the kitchen alone.

You were happy. It was a dull kind of happiness but it was there. You went to your old room ready to crash but it looks like everything in the room had been purged of your presences. Not a single book,art supply, or clothing article around. Only a small empty bed frame. So you crashed on the couch.

  
  


You woke up tired. Back stiff and muscles aching. It was a Sunday so it was enough time to register for your old school, Midtown high. It required a couple extra things. Like textbooks, notebooks, a backpack. You didn’t dare ask your mom for money to buy the stuff. She’d get mad. She was already irritable, you’d give her time to cool off.

You went into your old room and pulled back a loose wooden panel next to the outlet. You kept some emergency stuff back there. One was cash. You figured now was the best time to use it. 

It was refreshing to go downtown. You hadn’t left the school in months without supervision so doing things on your own almost felt foreign. First you went and bought all the spiral notebooks and school supplies. Next you went to the cheapest department store you could find and bought a few articles of clothing, since all you had were the ones in your bag and what you had on. Not enough for school.

After all the shopping it was about 12. A good time to rest and eat something. You found a cafe that had outdoor seating and it was finally getting warm so you took your sandwich, drink and sketchbook to one of the tables outside. 

There were plenty of people outside, sitting in benches, in the grass, playing at the park or enjoying a meal. A perfect place for some figure drawings. 

You chose the people sitting on the benches nearest or the ones in the windows at the shops. It was hard to draw them and not stare. 

After a little while your eyes drifted to the man sitting at the table next to you. You noticed he also seemed to be glued to his book, just as you. Looking at the bypassing people then scribbling something down. He had blonde- ish hair that was combed over neatly. He wore work clothes. A brown jacket and work pants with suspenders. He was dressed like an old man but couldn’t have been older than your mom. 

He was also drawing. You tried to discreetly sneak a peek a couple times at his drawings but after a while he noticed.

The sixth time you looked he met your eyes. “Want to know what I’m drawing?” He asked. His voice was very calm and soothing, he also had an accent but you weren’t 100% sure from where.

“Yeah haha, I’m just really curious because they looked really good… and I'm drawing too” you lifted up your sketchbook to show him. 

You slid into the seat across from him as he turned the notebook to you. 

The drawings were really good. They were a mixture of charcoal drawings and graphite ones. One was of a lady sitting at the fountain with a big hat and little dog. You turned to the fountain to see that the lady was still there. The drawing could have been an exact copy. “Wow…” you exhaled in disbelief. 

“You like them?” The question seemed really genuine. Like he was unsure of his amazing talent. 

“Yeah they're so… really…. they’re amazing.” You couldn’t find the right words.

He smiled, “Thank You. My friends and girlfriend wanted me to get out and get used to other people.” He watched by passers with hawk like concentration.

The sentence was phrased so oddly. “Get used to other people?” You repeated it back to him, confused.

A look of realization flashed across his face. “Oh I mean like the people in New York…. I’ve been away for a while and they want me to get used to the city.” He explained. It almost seemed like he had to think of something to tell you but it was believable enough so you didn’t press.

“Well you don’t mind me being here?” You asked him. You didn’t have anywhere else to be so company might be nice.

“Oh please do, I would love the company.” He replied warmly. He seemed really nice.

The rest of your lunch was spent talking with the man you had met drawing each other or drawing in each other's sketchbooks. 

Back for one day and you already had a friend. 

  
  
  
  



	4. School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re back at school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you meet MJ and Peter even if it was brief. I promise they come back in the next few chapters lol

Midtown high was only about four stops away from your house so taking the subway wasn’t a hassle. However being back again was. You had to fill out forms for your mom who wasn’t gonna do it herself. You had to pick out classes and sort out after school clubs and what not. 

But just like everything when returning to the city, it was refreshing more than anything.

Your class list wasn’t bad. You actually had decent grades. It wasn’t necessarily because you were all that concerned about college. You just wanted to impress your mom. A side effect of that was just getting good grades.

You had a block schedule so your first four classes are as follows: 

Biology 

Ap History

Study hall 

Ap English 

  
  


Biology wasn’t bad. You had it with mr. Wilson. He’s the kind of teacher to give out packets and then literally never teach a lesson the entire year. Which you were sure would hurt you in the long run but the class was chill besides that. 

The only problem with Biology and all your other classes was that you were a month late to school. So they were already like five sections into that chapter of biology. They were gonna disect a frog and you had no clue why or for what.

Next was Ap History.

You were learning about the Medieval Renaissance and the Hellenistic period.

Study was pretty chill. You got to finish some packets and do some catch up with the lessons in your last two classes. 

Your study was split by lunch. So when lunch came around people were surprised to see you. People clapped you on the back and congratulated you on being back. No one really was sure where you were. Rumors of you being sent away because of bad behavior or being in prison floated around the school and they weren’t that far off. 

You use to cause trouble your first two years at midtown. Never enough to get yourself expelled. Just enough to make a name for yourself. So being sent away on behavior was people’s best guess.

You found your usual lunch table where surprisingly your friends from last year sat. They all looked surprised to see you. You took a seat even though the looks on their faces were that of discomfort.

“So what’s been up with you guys?” You were excited to be back with a familiar crowd.

All the girls at the table gave you one-word answers. And that’s how all of lunch went. They talked to each other about themselves. You had missed a couple months of school and an entire summer with them. To them you ghosted them. You disappeared with barely an explanation than came back half a year later expected to be let back into the group. 

Your friends were nice but were also the type of girls to be petty and hold grudges. The next couple of days were just like that. You felt isolated at a table full of people you knew.

After a week you made a consecutive decision to just find other people. But that was hard. It was junior year and friend groups were already solidified. So you sat at an empty lunch table at the back of the room. Or at least it was empty except for one girl.

She wore cuffed mom jeans, a black graphic t (with a band on it that you didn’t know), a flannel shirt over top and her hair messily pulled back.

It took you a while to ask her what book she was reading.

She looked at you with an unchanging expression. “It’s called: The end of white politics, how to end our liberal divide” and went back to reading. 

At first all you could say was, “oh”. But the more you sat with her the more you talked. It turns out you had art and biology together so you sat with her in both classes.

Your conversations were something you really liked. Often it would only be you talking and her listening but she always had really well articulated anecdotes about the topic. You enjoyed her presence. 

“So do you think fish think they’re flying? Or do you think they know they’re swimming?” Was one of the mindless questions you had brought up to her during lunch. 

She rolled her eyes at you. “I think that you're an idiot.” 

A moment later she turns to you and says, “okay but if they think they’re flying then what does that make us? Gods?”

She did sometimes indulge you in mindless banter.

You had a habit of being able to talk people up. So even within the span of a week and a half almost two you could be friends with MJ. Of course the friendship was her telling you that you annoy her and you laughing but it was still something.

—————————————————————

English class was almost definitely the most difficult to keep up with because the class was more than half way through with reading the novel Fahrenheit 451. And there is an upcoming project on it which you are not exempt from.

“Okay ladies and gentlemen, we are only a couple chapters away from finishing our book and you know what that means.” Mr. stamos paused “a project. The big project.” 

The news elicited a number of responses, groans 

mostly.

“And, I’ve already chosen your partners for you. They’re up in the projector here.” He pointed to the list and you squinted searching for your name. There it was in the fourth row. 

_ Y/n y/l/n and Peter Parker.  _

You looked around for a Peter Parker. Sounded familiar but you weren’t sure.

You didn’t have to look for long because someone had sat across from you and introduced himself as Peter. 

_ Oh, it’s ‘penis Parker’ _ . A nickname bestowed upon him by Midtown’s most popular asshole flash.

He had brown curly hair, pale skin and hazel- ish eyes. His dimples were apparent everytime he gave you his boyish sort of grin. He looked kind. 

He spoke nervously. He didn’t seem like one for conversation  _ oh boy this project is gonna take forever if he only speaks every ten minutes. _

“This project will take a lot of time so make sure to meet in and out of school. Class time will be given but that isn’t enough to finish the project. Plan ahead people” Mr. Stamos announced to the class.

“Uh here’s my number”. He slid his phone over to you and you put it in as ‘English partner’

You texted him to tell make sure. 

**You** : hey it’s me y/n

**English partner:** cool, its me peter (:


	5. Strange encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I it’s your first day on the job and you get tipped well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I’ll just tell you now that the man you meet is Loki. I thought the description was pretty clear but in case it wasn’t I’m just telling you guys lol (:

After school you took the subway back to the diner you had spent your first night in. You needed a job and the diner seemed like a good place to start. It was a 24/7 diner named “ Dave’s All Day Diner”  _ catchy. _

You had printed your resume the day before. Nothing impressive but you were sure you could land the job. And you did. It started that night in fact.

You sat down with the owner of the diner in back for a quick introduction. “Hi you must be Dave.” You shook his hand. His hands were big and lumpy. He had a firm handshake which you tried to return with a grip as strong as you could muster.

He was a stout, round man. He had a few whisps of graying hair on top of his head and some scratchy looking stubble. But his eyes looked kind. They were brown and oval shaped. He always squinted a little when he talked, especially when he smiled.

“Ah no, I’m Dave Junior. This was my dad's place.” He revealed

“But I worked here as a kid and eventually took over for him” he looked around with a sense of pride.

The interview went normally. Just asking when you can work, why you want the job, and what you can do.

Your schedule wasnt that tight, especially because your mom didn’t care where you were at any time of the day. But minors weren’t allowed to work for more than eight hours a week. Although you did need the cash because you’d most likely end up paying for most your own food, clothes and school supplies.

You told him Mondays, Wednesdays, and thursdays. You could fill in slots if he needed you to but you had art club almost everyday after school and you had your new project with Peter to do.

As for why you wanted the job, you couldn’t exactly tell him you had to support yourself so you said it was for extra pocket money.

You told him the basic things you could do, was work the register, bus tables, take orders, and sort of work an ice cream machine.

That night he had you taking orders and bussing tables. The diner had a uniform which he had extra in the back of. It was a white collared shirt with a back apron. You could wear any bottoms you wanted; they just had to be work appropriate. You were wearing blue denim jeans today.

  
  


It was 4 o’clock on a Tuesday, so it was not very busy. 

Granted a few people came in from work to grab an early dinner but you barely had to take anyone’s orders. 

Your first day was just about over when you heard the bell ring as the front door swung open.

A man walked in. He was wearing a black suit, a black collared shirt and a black tie. Wrapped loosely around his neck was a nice looking earthy green scarf. His black long hair was slicked back just barely reaching past his shoulders. On his face was a long cut. More than a cut a gash that ran from under his left eye to his jaw and below his ear. It was certainly eye catching.

But besides that he looked fancy. Like he had somewhere nicer to be. He also looked incredibly tired. Like he had one hell of a day. So with all of that in mind you didn’t understand why he’d stop at a diner.

He sighed in relief as he took a seat at a barstool, leaning on the bar rubbing his eyes.

He rubbed his chin with his hand in great concentration. You almost didn’t want to interrupt his thinking but you did anyway.

“Hi sir. What can I get for you tonight?” You asked him, withdrawing your small notepad from your pocket.

His eyes searched the diner momentarily. Eyeing everyone in the room looking at the place with one of disdain or even just skepticism.

“Ummmm, you have scotch?” He asked almost desperately.

He had an accent which only added to his fancy-ness. 

You laughed a little which made him look up. “I don’t think we do. And even if we did, I’m a minor; I don’t think I’m allowed to serve it to you.”

He laughed a little, giving you a side smile “you don’t think you could break the rules for me doll?” He asked half jokingly.

You raised an eyebrow, “hm depends. What’s in it for me?” You grinned mischievously matching his own smile.

“Half the drink?” He proposed. “An extra tip?” 

“Ah sorry. I don’t take dirty money” you insisted, continuing to play along with the bit.

“Ah, smart young lady. Knows not to take money from strangers.” He joked wryly

“But really. It’s my first day on the job. Cant get fired already.” You responded 

“Understood, understood.” He played with the table salt in front of him half heartedly, like he actually expected you might get him a drink.

“But I know what might be a good replacement.” You rushed back to the kitchen and grabbed a pot and filled it with milk. “You're not allergic to dairy are you?” You called back to the man.

“Not that I know of.”

You heated the milk then got out the hot chocolate mix and poured a couple scoops into a mug. Finally mixing in the milk you sprayed on some whipped cream and sprinkled the top with cinnamon.

You presented it to him and at first he looked incredibly skeptical. “Please tell me there’s scotch under all that whipped cream.”

“Sadly no.” You giggled a little. “I find that a good cup of hot chocolate always makes me feel better. It calms me down or makes me happy when I have a bad day. And is always a good substitute for scotch.” You reassured him.

“Oh do I look that bad?” He looked up at you. The dark circles under his eyes were more apparent under the Florence than lights and the closer you looked you could see bruises on his face and cuts too. And of course you couldn’t ignore the big gash across the side of his face that ran from the bottom so his eye down his face to below his ear. It had just scabbed and looked painful.

You clenched your teeth scrunching your face, “well it’s not that you look bad….” you didn’t need to finish your sentence for him to understand what you meant.

“Anyway, just try the drink”

He raised his eyebrows then begrudgingly took a sip. He hummed a little in response to the taste. “Not bad.”

“The cinnamon is my own touch.” You bragged.

“Well I’ve never had it before so technically it’s the best I’ve ever had.” He confessed

“What? The first time having cinnamon on hot chocolate?”

“No, the first time having hot chocolate.”

You couldn’t stop the little gasp that escaped your mouth. Noticing your reaction he asked if that wasn’t normal. “Not that it’s not normal…. It’s just odd….. and kinda sad considering I couldn’t live without the stuff.” You laughed a little at the stupidity of your comment.

“Well I’m sorry to have offended a hot chocolate enthusiast like you with my ignorance.” He teased.

  
  


There was a bit of silence as you went to the register and back again before you settled into a chair a little bit across from him. There were only like three other customers and they all had their food so you could rest. 

But you were still curious about the strange man. And you felt oddly at ease in his presence. So you decided to break the silence.

“Sooooo…. what happened” you motioned to your face where the gash was on his, “....here”

He looked up from his drink. He was about to say something then hesitated. He had a sort of far off look in his eye as he glanced away from you for a moment,

“Not a story for a nice young lady ,such as yourself, to hear.” He pushed his cup forward which was empty. You didn’t know when, but he finished the entire drink. And next to it was money for the drink and a generous tip.  _ Huh. All that money even though I didn’t give him any scotch. _

He got up and put on his long coat and green scarf. “Thank you.” He nodded his head and walked out onto the street, which at this time was soaked in orange and gold colors from the setting sun.

_ What an interesting guy. _ You mused to yourself while counting your tip.


	6. Encounters of their own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Peter and visions point of view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading! When I opened my email and saw the kudos and comments I kid you not I think I squealed like a little girl. Writings not my strong suit so this makes me happy <3

You got home to the lights off and silence. Your mom wasn’t home. Again. 

You were used to it but some part of you hoped one day she’d miraculously pull a complete 180 and hug when you came home or made dinner or asked you how you were doing. She only ever did that when you were little or when she felt guilty. 

While she was a big part of your returning home she wasn’t the only part. The other was your dad. You haven’t seen him since you were a small kid but some shred of hope remained that you could find him again. 

Your mom says he left you guys but he just disappeared without a trace. And being home would give you a chance to find him. 

You thought maybe if I find him mom will be happy again. She’ll love me more.

You heated up food Dave let you take home and sat at your dinner table. It was dark and cold and lonely. You hated loneliness. It felt like a pit in your stomach and shriveled your happiness.

Your mom didn’t come home till way past the time you had got in bed.

* * *

_ Peters POV _

One week earlier

He swung onto his balcony landing softly on the metal railing. He had gone on patrol immediately after school. Putting on the spider suit and helping people was something he found solace in and found himself going out to help people more and more since he had received the suit from Mr. Stark.

He entered his room at avengers tower where he sometimes spent nights for his “internship” or when May was away on work.

He changed back into his regular clothes and went out into the Avengers tower common room. It was the main floor that was used often by the team when on break. It was an open floor plan so the room was huge with giant windows and a balcony looking out on the water.

Mr. Stark was in the kitchen making a sandwich, Steve and Bucky sat on the couch watching the news and Natasha was reading a book at the table. 

Friday had announced Peter's arrival before he walked into the room.

“Hey kid, how was school?” Tony asked, his hands and attention still on the sandwich making.

“Oh it was fine….. we dissected a frog in biology.”

Peter shrugged. Not a lot of news to report on about school.

“Oh but on patrol I helped this class of first graders cross the street. And stopped someone from stealing from a cash register at a pawn shop on 31st.”

He stated proudly.

Tony was now spreading mayo and mustard on one of the sides of the bread. “I thought we discussed this. No patrol till your homework is finished.”

“Yeah I know but-“ Peter began 

“But what? Nu uh” Tony interrupted Peter, “your aunt is allowing you to do this internship if you keep up your grades and if you don’t she will blame me and therefore I will get mad at you.” Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter, “that’s right you don’t want that. So you better itsy-bitsy spider your way back to doing homework”

“But I did finish my homework…” Peter mumbled 

“No projects no after school clubs? And don’t mumble” tony responded

“No, well actually I do have one project but it’s not due for a while and I still have to meet up with my… partner.” Peter made a sour face scrunching his nose and looking away when he said the word partner.

“What, what’s wrong? You made a face, are they a jerk or something?” Tony asked

“No…. she’s not…. it’s just that.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“She was a big troublemaker last year. Like she pulled dozens of huge pranks over the school year. And then she got sent away in the middle of our sophomore year. And now she’s back.”

“What’d she do? Put whoopie cushions on the teachers chairs?” Natasha chimed in

He took a pause to think, “well I’m not saying she’s a bad person….one time she snuck into the principal's office and stole his keys so she could set all the animals free from the labs to roam the halls…. and that wasn’t the worst of her pranks.”

“She always got caught but I don’t think she cared.” Peter sighed thinking about what he might have to put up with when working with y/n.

“I’m just nervous that she’s gonna bale or slack or something and I’ll have to do the entire project. It’s a huge part of our grade.” Peters brow furrowed.

Steve has gotten up from where he sat on the couch and came over to the island in the kitchen. “Hm, she just needs some motivation.” Steve noted

“Yeah, tell her she’ll fail if she can’t do her work” Tony said before taking a bite into his sandwich

“Not what I meant.” Steve shot Tony a glare. “more like motivate her to want the good grade.

  
  


“Yeah I’ll try it.” Peter shrugged. He was sure it would workout somehow. 

Just then Thor came lumbering into the room with his hammer with Loki on his heels.

They were both dressed in their traditional asgardian battle armor and garments.

“We’re away to deal with some things off world” Thor said without slowing his pace. Loki said nothing as they both entered the elevator.

“We’ll be back next week.” Thor waved as the door closed.

There were a few “okays” or “bye” from around the room. Peter smiled and waved but then realized he looked dumb waving and grinning so he put his arm down.

“You’ll figure it out kid.” Natasha reassured him

Peter bit his lip,  _ yeah I hope so…. _

_ Visions POV _

That same week

Vision returned to the tower in human form but promptly turned back the moment he got to the common room in Avengers tower.

Stepping out of the elevator he was greeted by Wanda and Natasha working at the dining room table with a couple of shield files and Steve and Bucky making dinner for the group.

Wanda saw him come in and got up to greet him. “Hey vis, how was the people watching?” She asked, then leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. 

He set down his sketchbook on the counter. “It was good. I had sat at a cafe for a while drawing people, like you had suggested Steve” he turned to Steve momentarily and Steve nodded.

“It definitely helped me understand human interactions more. Oh and I had a conversation with this really nice girl at the cafe too.”

“Really?” Wanda asked

“Yeah, and at first I thought maybe she was a spy or someone sent by shield or something of the sort. But she was just curious about my drawings.”

“Well that’s nice.” Wanda chirped, “see you’re doing great.” She held his hand and squeezed it a little. He squeezed back.

Vision was having a hard time understanding human emotion and interest. While it made sense to him logistically he didn’t 100% have a grasp on the feeling of it. He knew he loved Wanda and that he loved the team but he wasn’t sure how to express that or understand it. Wanda suggested people watching and Steve suggested drawing his emotions so he did both.

_ Maybe I’ll go back next time.  _


	7. Back Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you serve breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki’s back (:

It was a white day (the other half of the block schedule) at school so the four classes you have are:

Ap art 

French 3

Calculus 

Politics 

  
  


You had Ap art with MJ where you pestered her the entire class if she thought color blind people were actually seeing real colors and we were seeing the fake ones. 

French was pretty easy, bien que vous ayez encore du mal avec les conjugaisons. peut-être que peter vous donnera des cours.

Then came calculus. If you had to describe the class in one word you couldn’t because it would be ‘hell fire’. That’s two words.

You got the worst teacher. She’s the strictest one you’ve ever had. She keeps a tight schedule when it comes to learning. You were barely passing this class. And you’ve heard from other kids that she doesn’t hesitate to fail students.

You know when one thing about a person annoys you and before soon their entire being just irritates you to no end. Well it was this woman. Pretty soon you were hating the way she walked and the way she picked up pens she annoyed you so much.

  
  


Politics was your last class and that was kind of fun. You found the debates that happened in the class were very interesting. You always thought of MJ when in that class because you knew she could destroy any of them in an argument.

Right when you were about to leave school when you saw Peter leaning on the lockers by the front door of the school. He was waiting.

“Oh hey! Y/n!” He waved to you through the crowd of students. 

_Oh boy…_

“Hey Peter, what’s up?” You smiled pushing your way through the crowd to him.

He was rubbing his hands nervously and continuously pushing his brown hair out of his face.

“Hey I was wondering if we could work on the project today? And I’m sorry to spring this on you it’s just I completely forgot to text and my phone died and then we had a test so I couldn’t ask for a charger even though the guy sitting next to me, uhm his name's dan, Dan he had offered to-“ he was babbling. 

“Peter!” You yelled and he stopped. You felt bad after yelling because there was a look of pure shock on his face. It was like yelling at a puppy.

“I’m really sorry but I have work like right after school….”

His brows furrowed and his face prickled with disappointment. 

“No yeah, that’s fine haha” he laughed awkwardly. “I should have texted first and stuff.”

You forced a polite smile. 

“So uh can we work on it tomorrow, or?”

You thought about it. “Uh yeah, I think I can.”

“Great” Peter smiled at you.

He waved you off as he walked off in the other direction.

You almost felt bad but it wasn’t your main concern. You had to get to work then go grocery shopping then study for calc. Your English project wouldn’t be due for at least a couple of months or so. 

Today at Dave’s you only had to work from 4 to 8. It was a Thursday and the diner was slow as usual. You poured water in glasses and cleaned off tables pretty regularly.

You had made friends with the other employees that worked there. Some were just a couple years older than you, but most were way older. 

“Hey y/n, can you work the register for me?” Darla asked as you put dishes into the sink. Darla was the manager. She was there most often. She was a tall woman. Really skinny and bony. She was in her mid 50s so her roots were graying and you only knew that because sometimes she missed a patch when dying it.

At around 7 o’clock you heard the bell jingle as the door was pushed open. “Welcome.” You called over to them. It was the same man you saw on your first night. He was back. This time in a dark blue suit and white collared shirt but still wearing his green scarf. _It’s like a trademark or something_

This time he took a seat at the same barstool again. _He must be a regular. He must have eaten here a lot before I started working here_ you figured

You were busy serving someone else so he waited patiently. 

“Hi, it’s you again.” You said approaching him from behind the counter.

“Yes it’s me.” 

“Back again for something to drink? You know you ought to go to an actual bar for that.” You jested.

“No this time I’m here for some actual food. How’s your breakfast options?” He asked. 

“At 7pm?” You asked 

“Yeah. Ever since I’ve arrived on earth-jdmdjjdj New York….” his words slurred a bit when he realized he said something other than New York, which you didn’t catch. “New York, I’ve realized breakfast foods are superior to all others.”

“I have to say that brunch isn’t my style.” You admitted

“Brunch?” He tilted his head in confusion.

“Brunch…. ya know…. breakfast for lunch… basically what you’re having right now. Well this is more brinner but we don’t have to go into the logistics of naming meals. But I guess if you wanted lunch for dinner it would be linner but there isn’t a clear distinction between dinner and lunch foods. Like why is a sandwich a lunch food and not a dinner one? ” 

He tried his best to contain his laughter but you could see his lips turn down and his eyes wide as his shoulders shrugged up and down from the laughing.

“What?”

“Nothing sorry. I’ve just never met someone so adamant about breakfast or naming meals.” He cleared his throat to stop laughing.

“Yeah well people like me are out there. A special few but we exist. Brunch enthusiasts.” You said sarcastically.

“Anyway” you leaned over the counter to point at his menu “ I’ve never tried it but my best guess is the pancakes and sausage links are the best.”

“Great I’ll get that. Thanks Doll.” He gave his menu to you as you went to go give his order to Ethan, the guy in the kitchen.

You watched the man. He sat in silence mostly. Eventually he pulled out a book and began reading. _Hm I shouldn’t try and make conversation should I?_

So you didn’t. You gave him his food and just watched him eat as you stood by the cash register. _His scar… he had a giant ass scar across his face and it’s almost healed. How is that possible?_ You wondered as you stared a little too hard.

He eventually looked up and waved you over. You expected him to ask for water or something but instead it was, “is there a reason you are staring bullets into the side of my head?” He asked

Your cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Ahaha yeah sorry.” you laughed trying to shake off the embarrassment of being caught. 

“I was just wondering how that scar on your face healed so quickly.”

His eyebrows gave a little shrug and he laughed, “magic”

_Guess he just saw a good doctor._

“Well alright….” the conversation died there for a while. 

You went back to work for a little then when he finished you picked up his plate and gave him the check. While he was signing it he asked, “why are you working so late? Aren’t you just a kid? Don’t you have school or friends?”

You stopped before taking the check. “Uhhhh well yeah I have friends. Well not really but I do. And I have a school project but it’s not due for a while so…”

You paused. “Wait. Why do I have to answer that? What about you? You’ve come to this diner two nights in a row, don’t you have friends?”

He hummed a little, “So rude to your customers, I could tell your manager.” 

“So you don't have friends.” You tilted your head 

Someone waved you over for more water so you were walking away 

“Uh that’s not what that means” he called to you as you walked away

You shook your head at him, “hey it’s fine. I get it. It sucks to suck” you shrugged your shoulders while carrying a stack of plates and a water pitcher back to the kitchen.

“Yeah well you're a teenager working at a diner when you should be out. Not me” He said defensively

“Yep. And you're just the old man who eats at this diner.” You remarked. 

“Hm touché.” He nodded his head. “And I’m not even that old.”

“Yeah right, you’re like 1,000 years old” you joked.  
But you honestly couldn’t tell. He looked young like maybe mid twenties or early thirties. But he wore really fancy suits and talked like he had lived a full lifetime already. 

“Close actually.”

You rolled your eyes as he got up from his seat and thanked you for the food, once again disappearing into the night. 

After work you pulled out your phone and texted Peter. 

**You:** hey sorry about today. I can definitely do it tomorrow.

He didn’t respond till you were home with groceries later that night.

**English partner:** sounds great! Let’s do it after school. We can go to the library in xxxxx

**You:** cool I’ll definitely be there.

You made yourself a small dinner, by yourself. Again.


	8. Cant buy me love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your mom gets angry

It was Friday and your mom still wasn’t home. She slipped in and out of the home when she pleased. Whether it was for work or just to go out.

So you rarely saw her. And when you did she was passed out on the couch or just coming in from a night out. Despite her drinking habits she never got violent when she was drunk. Ever.

Although you do have one very distinct memory of her crying to you as a kid. You were maybe nine years old when she had wrapped her arms around you and sobbed. You were a little scared then. She had never cried in front of you but that time she was.

However today was the exception. 

It was a Friday morning and your mom was getting home. She was a nurse so sometimes she worked long shifts. But this time she had gotten something to drink on her way home. She opened the door and lastly kicked off her shoes.

“Oh geez mom are you okay?” You went to help her but instead she put her hand out to stop you. 

“No, don't” she seemed angry at you for wanting to help her.

“Why? I’m just trying to-“ 

“Sshh.” She shushed you. Sitting down at the kitchen table. “Your voice. Your voice I can’t stand it. You sound just like him” she mumbled 

You were taken aback a bit. “Who? like dad?” You pressed wanting to hear more. She never talked about him. She didn’t want to. The only time she did was cursing his name. 

Your mom didn’t keep a shred of his memory anywhere. No pictures no clothes no nothing. This has led you to believe it was a small affair. Which is 100% possible. They probably broke up and he left.

You got her some water for her to feel better.

“Yeah. Him” she sounded a little sad so you sat next to her to try and comfort her and placed the glass next to her. 

“Yeah I know mom. I mean I barely remember him. I wish he was here too. But I was thinking that if I get a DNA test or go look at the city databases I could- ” you paused when seeing the look on her face.

She turned to you with a deep scowl. “Shutup” She whispered.

“What?” You asked softly not knowing if you heard right. 

“Shut up I said! Shut up!” She stood up abruptly making you stand and stumble back a bit. 

“I didn’t say anything, I was just-“ you were quick to defend yourself.

“No you don’t get to speak! He left! He left because of you! He left because you're a monster.” She slurred 

You shut your mouth promptly. She did it. She called you a monster. She only ever did that once when you were a kid. You never forgot it. It was the same night she cried into your arms. Right before she had sobered up she had said, “why was I left with a monster like you.”

  
  


Your mom was still screaming at you, some of it nonsense but mostly just her pointing fingers at you. Saying it was your fault.

“Mom please just go to bed. You’re tired and had to much to drink-“

  
  


“Stop waiting for him to come back! He won’t. Not for you.”

When she moved forward towards you you flinched stepping back causing you to run into the cabinet behind you that had a large vase on it. You knocked it over and simultaneously tripped landing on your butt and forearms.

You were in shock. She’s never made any advances at you before. You were scared.

You couldn’t stop the tears from streaming from your eyes. It was a combination of shock and pain that made all your hurt feelings tumble out in the form of tears.

  
  


“Oh my god you broke the vase.” She sighed resting her head in her hands.

Every mistake you made in front of her was never minor. She either rolled her eyes or blamed you completely.

You could feel blood pooling at your fingertips a bit.

It took your mom a second to realize that you were bleeding and crying. “Oh. sweetie are you okay?” As if she wasn’t the one that made you fall.

Sweetie. The name she used whenever she hurt your feelings and saw you cry. She only used that name when she realized she had gone too far, or finally grew a conscious and started feeling guilty.

She did this a lot when you were a kid. When she had angry outbursts and then felt bad for yelling at you.

“Oh my god you’re bleeding.” She tried to kneel down to help you but she stumbled a little because she was still drunk.

You couldn’t tell if that was a genuine look of concern, half because your eyes were blurring from the tears and because it was hard to believe. 

You got up, lifting your forearms off the ground to see the hardwood floor stained with blood. Small pieces of glass fell from your forearms as you lifted them. 

Turning them over you could see the shards stuck in your arms and hands.

_ I’m gonna be late for school _ .

Once your mom had sobered up she picked out the glass with tweezers and cleaned you up. She was gentle and worked diligently. 

Your mom was a nurse so you trusted her. 

Some of the cuts were deep enough enough that she had to stitch you up. The rest weren’t horrible. Just in need of bandages.

You were still at the kitchen table and your mom swept up the glass. 

“Hey sweetie. Now that you’re feeling better you wanna skip school and go shopping with me?” She asked tucking a lock of hair behind your ear lovingly.

Your chest filled with joy. It almost made you start tearing up, but you didn’t want her to cancel because you had started crying.

“Yeah mom, that’s sounds great”

She took you to Manhattan where you searched the art stores and bookstores never getting anything too expensive. she let you get some paints and a new book. 

Getting home she gave you a hug and you both returned to your respective rooms for the night.

You plopped onto your mattress and out the new things on your desk. (Which about a week ago was in a storage unit a couple blocks away. You managed to get your mom to bring them back to your room.)

_ Today was fun.  _ You told yourself ignoring the events that took place in the morning causing you to have a good day.

You tried to remember the paints that you got and push away the knowledge that these gifts were her buying your love back. Buying your forgiveness. You knew because she did this often. She’d hurt your feelings in some way, never apologize but then make up for it with gifts.

You liked to pretend they came from a place of love. And maybe they did. That’s the story you were sticking with. For your own peace of mind.

You had been out all day and were ready to crash in your bed.

Peter on the other hand was just getting home from waiting at the library for four hours waiting for you. 

He left eight calls and about 30 texts. He was tired and mad. A combination that didn’t mix well with him.

You had just bailed for the second time after a week of not having taken initiative on the project at all. 

_ She is trouble. _ He concluded before closing his eyes and sleeping off the stress of the day.


	9. Dad Jokes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which y/n gets some coffee

It wasn’t till you checked your phone that you realized Peter was having a stroke at the library from you not being there.  _ Shit. _

25 messages and seven calls.

You were with your mom all Friday and frankly didn’t care because you’d choose shopping over the project with Peter anytime. Sorry Peter.

You had spent your Saturday lounging around because…. well you deserved it. Today was Sunday and you kinda wanted to go to the cafe you had gone to last week and draw again and forget your guilt about the Peter thing. 

Maybe try some new hot Chocolates at the cafe to tell the man at the diner about.

So it was decided. You took the subway down to manhattan and walked a few blocks to the cafe. It nestled near a park in the downtown area. It was cute.

So you settled in to draw and read for a while after picking up something to drink and eat.

After a little while you spotted someone familiar sitting at a table across from you. It was the man you had seen drawing earlier. He was drawing again.  _ Would it be awkward if I said hi? I wonder if he even remembers me. _

Today he was wearing a dark blue sweater with a white collar under either and some brown slacks. Once again very concentrated on the people around him and his drawings.

Eventually you didn’t have to say hi because he caught you staring. Again. Just like last time.

So he waved to you and you walked over. “Sorry for staring ahah.” Your face heated up. It was embarrassing getting caught like this again. And he probably didn’t even remember.

“Hey, you’re the girl from last time who did the amazing drawings.”  _ He had called your drawings amazing. _ You blushed even harder.

“Yeah I just wanted to come say hi again, I’m glad you remember me.” You smiled.

“Yes of course. I had a lot of fun that day. Please, take a seat.” He gestured to the chair across from him. You took it 

“What a good coincidence we are both here again.” He smiled at you.

“Yeah it is, I just didn’t get your name last time…. Uh mines y/n” 

“Oh of course. Mine is vis.” He outstretched his hand to you which you shook politely.

_ Vis…. what an odd name. _

“Well, vis I could certainly use someone like you to teach me to draw.” You said looking at the book in front of him.

“Oh me? I don’t know if I could do that. And you’re already really good.”

You blushed as you traded compliments with him. Adults made you nervous sometimes. And the fact that one was complimenting you was a foreign feeling.

You sipped your chocolate as the two of you scribbled away at your notebooks.

“What’re you drinking?” He asked looking up 

“Oh, it’s hot chocolate. I’ve been trying all the different kinds at this cafe for my friend.”  _ Friend more like guy at the diner _ “he likes hot chocolate.”

He nodded his head intently. Like he was studying everything you said.

“Uhm I have some extra money would you like anything?”

“Oh no that’s okay. I’m…. on a diet hahah.” Declines your offer politely.

After a couple more minutes you asked if you could draw him. He said yes and that he was flattered never having never been the model for a drawing.

“Well you should. You have… a very drawable face.”

“Thank you I get that a lot” he boasted and you both laughed.

He didn’t make a lot of jokes but the ones he did make were all dad jokes. You once asked the time and he said time for you to get a watch.

You laughed not because it was good but because he was definitely a dad and he definitely thought that was the funniest thing he’d said all day.

“If you’re not a model, which you should be, what do you do? Is drawing your job? Are you an artist?” You asked eagerly.

He hesitated a bit. 

“Oh sorry for prying”

“No no you’re fine. Umm my job is public service. I basically go around… helping people. We have like a team who all have different specialties to help people.” He concluded 

“Ah well that’s real cool. I just wanted to know if you were an artist because I really want to do that for college and talking to someone who does art would be great.” You related

“Ah, well I do know one person who draws and sells his drawings and paintings but only on the side. He doesn’t do it for a living.” Vis noted 

After a few more minutes of pleasant conversation about art and what kind of things you draw it was time for vis to get going. He waved saying he hoped to see you next time.

You needed to get home too. You wanted to see if your mom would eat dinner with you.   


Spoilers, she wouldn’t


	10. Bribes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You start your project with Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m trying to make the chapters longer but I’m not sure by how much

Peter came up to you after class asking if you could do the project today. And for the first time you said yeah. He looked incredibly relieved.

“Okay, great. Sounds good.”

The two of you settled in at a table in the back of the school library. He pulled out his laptop and you got out a notebook and pen.

“Okay. So basically the project is based on themes of the book. Sooo he gave us options of censorship, ignorance and knowledge, life versus death, the power of books, role of mass media, loss of individuality and the role of technology.”

You were writing down as much as you could hoping Peter would slow down and take a breath in between speaking.

“Didn’t he also give us the option on how we present the themes. Like… how we see those themes in the present day relating to the book. Or how we see them in relation to other books we’ve read this year.”

You noted flipping through the packet your teacher had given you.

“Yeah we can. What do you think we should do?” He asked

“Uhhhh, I think we should compare them to themes in real life.” You Suggested. It sounded easiest to you.

“Okay…. what theme?” 

You both debated which one would go over the smoothest and what you could present for which topic. Eventually you came to a consensus saying it should be the role of technology in the book compared to the effects of technology in modern day.

There was a bit of silence as both of you jotted down notes and after a while you were tired of the silence.

“Mr. stamos is really laying on the work huh.” You commented 

Peter looked up from his notebook, “yeah for sure. He’s been giving so much work.” He agreed.

you were rocking your chair back and forth on the heals while he was clicking his pen rapidly.

“Yeah it’s weird though because he looks more stressed out then we do.” You laughed a little.

Mr. Stamos was a neurotic guy. He was constantly pacing or playing with some sort of ball. He talked quickly and often babbled about nothing.

“Who else do you have?” He meant teachers.

“Uhhh lemme think…, oh I have Mr. Wilson for Bio. He’s really chill.” you paused to think a little “Oh my god, one time he farted really loud and tried to blame it on the fan.” You remembered from a couple weeks ago.

“Oh I had him last year and he did the same thing but blamed it on his chair!” Peter chortled.

You both laughed over Mr. Wilson’s lack of lesson planning and amount of bodily noises be made in the middle of class.

“I also have Mrs. Garcia for Calculus.”

“Oooo that sucks I’m sorry.” He scrunched his nose at the thought of having her as a teacher.

“Yeah it’s ass. I’m so gonna fail this quarter.” You complained.

Peter couldn’t really relate to failing a math class because science and math was his strength.

“Yeah… I heard she’s really tough…. oh but I also heard that she really liked sweet things. So if you ever drop something off on her desk then she might not be hard on you.” He shrugged.

“Wow Peter, I didn’t take you for the type that gave bribes” you teased.

“Oh no I don’t, I mean that wasn’t really a bribe- I wasn’t trying to get you to bribe someone- I swear that’s not what I-“

You laughed a little, he was easily made nervous.  _ Gonna have to be careful with joking around with him I guess. _

You both stayed there a little longer jotting down notes and annotating the book looking for passages where technology was used and in what context.

After a little while you gathered your stuff and parted at the library door, “see you later” he waved walking towards the east exit of the school.

“See you later, and I’ll text if I have any more ideas for the project” you replied waving back.

On the way home you stopped at the drug store to pick up some gummy bears. You texted peter a picture of them saying,

**You:** brought my bribe just like you said.

**English partner:** Hmm, maybe next time I need to be bribed to do the project.

_ So he does have a sense of humor. _

**You:** maybe. Depends on how much of my work you’ll be doing.

**English buddy:** And that depends on how much gummy bears you buy me.

You chuckled a little then bought an extra bag for when you saw Peter again. It wasn’t because you were nice…. it was a bribe.

  
  


When you got home your mom was asleep on the couch and dishes were scattered on the table and kitchen counter. She had friends over, you could tell. You just hoped none of them were still here.

You did the dishes then heated up a frozen meal in the microwave. 

You were running out of frozen meals which made you a little nervous. You’ve had to buy most of them, for breakfast, lunch and dinner and on top of that chip in a little for bills. You knew they wouldn’t get paid if you didn’t.

And your next paycheck didn’t come till next week. Even then it wasn’t a lot because you worked part time and didn’t get tipped too often.

You hated math. So doing work with money, while it wasn’t the hardest, wasn’t exactly a treat.

You tried to only spend pocket money on Sundays, which was your day off now that you were also working on Saturdays at Dave’s.

It was annoying but not out of the ordinary for you. Your mom worked pretty hard but you were never sure how much of her paycheck was going towards her going out or to helping out around the house.

She once told you as a kid not to be selfish because she was trying her best. So you weren’t. But now you weren’t sure if you could tell her the same thing. Would it be fair? Were you doing enough around the house to dictate what she should be doing.

All of this gave you a headache so you decided to stop thinking about it. Instead you ate dinner and watched TV till it was time for bed.


	11. The Regular

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You study with Peter some more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the pacing isn’t weird, after all it is supposed to be a slow burn. Anyway hope y’all enjoy!

Tuesday peter couldn’t work on the project because he had the academic decathlon practice and then his internship right after school. That was fine because you had art club. Today was a figure drawing day. Your club moderator got a student to pose for an hour or two. 

There was a no talking rule when drawing models but you couldn’t stop yourself from leaning over to MJ and talking about the newest episode of the Bachelor. You thought Reality TV was just about the most dramatic and entertaining thing around. While you knew it wasn’t good it didn’t stop you from keeping up with every episode. Your two favorites were Impractical Jokers and of course the Bachelor.

She continuously shushed you but you continued on.

Wednesday you had art and work. You were painting the model instead of using pencil to sketch them.

Afterward you went straight to Daves and did homework in the back till it was time to work. To be honest you did more scrolling through social media and game playing than actual homework.

Once you started working it became a regular habit to look for the man that always came to the diner right around seven.

You never asked his name, just always referring to him as ‘the man’. The man with black shiny hair and blue sunken eyes and his fancy suits and green scarf. 

“Regular?” You asked him when he sat down.

“Yep. And it’s sad that I come here enough to the point where you know what I order.” He sighed 

“Uh sad for you not for me” you snapped back playfully.

You jot down his order then brought it in back and handed it to Ethan.

You were making your usual rounds then went to the cash register while talking to him. Everytime the two of you talked it was about nothing significant. Just about school or work or just daily happenings.

“No schools not too bad, I mean calculus is the worst and Bio is so-so….. oh I do have a project in English.”

“Sounds boring.” He said sipping his hot chocolate

“Yep. It is. And my partner….. he’s a bit….”

“Mean? Boring? Lazy?” He guessed 

“No more nervous and uptight.” You paused to think, “I guess he’s not bad. He’s just very hard working and neurotic. Not my type of person.” You shrugged your shoulders.

“Just do it by yourself. You can always get things done better on your own.” He advised.

“Can’t. It’s a partner project. Which sucks but it’s whatever…..And is that what you did in school? You just worked by yourself?” You asked

“Uh no actually. It’s more a philosophy I carry with me since adulthood.” He confessed. He looked away for a moment. It looked as though he was remembering something or thinking back to his childhood.

“Yeah same.” You responded, still studying his face. “I mean not being an adult, I mean that I’d also rather do stuff on my own.”

“Cheers to that doll.” He lifted his hot chocolate mug and you raised an imaginary cup in your hand before you had to get back to work.

Over the next week you planned to meet with Peter four more times but cancelled last minute on the fourth time to go to work. Almost Everyday at work the man was there. Sometimes he ordered lunch but mostly the same thing. 

It wasn’t strange to you or weird. If he wanted to make some sort of move or be weird he would have. You didn’t let down your guard but you also weren’t concerned for your well being around him. You actually were happy when he was there. In a month you were already friends with a strange man who’s name you never learned.

As for your project with Peter it was going along well. You had both agreed upon the topic of technologies affects in the book compared to technologies affects in the real world.

“Nah that doesn’t fit the theme of the book.” He shot down your idea to do the internet as the technology in real life.

You reached over to grab some gummy bears from the pack you had brought. He shooed your hand away. “You get gummy bears when we figure this out.”

You scrunched your face, “rude.” You grumbled leaning back into your chair.

“The way technology was used in Fahrenheit 451 was for the government and others were used as distractions to brainwash the masses.” 

“Right so that was a warning from Ray Bradburry about the modern day uses of technology. I’d say that applies to today. Ya know, how much does media control our lives or how much does modern technology prove a threat to us.” You added.

Peter looked over, surprised.

“Uh I read the book and I pay attention” you fiddled with your pencil. 

_ I read the book. Just not all of it. I got to chapter five and sparknoted the rest _ you admitted to yourself.

“I could just do some research on how much technology consumes our life.” You said

“Okay sounds good. But it also says that we need a model and an interview or two.” Peter added while flipping through the packet.

“Uhhhh does it matter who we interview? Couldn’t we just interview the tech teacher here?” You asked, not wanting to have to go out of your way to do much work.

“Yeah that’s actually a good idea.” Peter acknowledged “we still need one more. Someone who knows about the violence of technology.”

You both say there for quite a while mulling things over. Neither of you knew anyone in the army or anything like that.

“Oh!” You exclaimed, just remembering something. He shushed you and you lowered your head a little remembering you were in a library. “Don’t you have that stark internship?”

“Ummm yeah?” He raised his eyebrows waiting for you to get to the point.

“Well, weren't they a weapons company turned Avengers?” You paused waiting for him to pickup on the idea not wanting to have to say it out loud out of fear of embarrassment . 

“ well….You’ve got to know someone who knows something about modern weapons and technology.” You looked at him wide eyed urging him to agree with just facial expressions.

There was a moment of silence for Peter to think. “Ah man I don’t know…. not that that’s not a good idea I just…. I’m not sure whether Mr. Stark wants me to delve into any of his personal work.” Peter stammered a bit.

You were gonna egg him on. “Don’t you have an internship with him? Wouldn’t it be weird if you didn’t get to know about the company you were practically working for?” You replied trying to sound nonchalant.

  
  


You almost felt bad pushing him like this. But you saw it as, wouldn’t it be cool to get an interview from Tony Stark himself? That would guarantee an A+.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uhhhh you’re right I guess.” He sighed, “fine but if I ask you owe me gummy bears, ten fold.” He pointed a jokingly accusing finger at you.

You put your hands up defensively and laughed a little, “I came up with the idea, you owe me the gummy bears.”

The two of you decided to stop there for the day and pick up next week on Monday and peter said he’d think about asking Mr. Stark but there were no guarantees.

But all you could think was,  _ A+ here I come! _

  
  



End file.
